Written Answers Tuesday 20 March 2007

Scottish Executive

Antisocial Behaviour etc. (Scotland) Act 2004

Robin Harper (Lothians) (Green): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-31857 by Des McNulty on 22 February 2007 in respect of the number of private landlords registered under the Antisocial Behaviour etc. (Scotland) Act 2004, how many properties are covered by the applications awaiting determination and how many applications have been refused, broken down by local authority area.

Des McNulty: The following table shows the number of applications for registration approved and awaiting determination by each local authority, as at 15 March 2007, and the number of properties associated with these applications.

  Local authorities are following up landlords who have not yet applied for registration and some are preparing, where necessary, to issue rent penalty notices, preventing the landlord collecting rent. However, in most cases, the threat of a rent penalty notice has been sufficient to secure an application. The majority of landlords provide an effective service to tenants and we therefore expect that most applications will be approved for registration. While no applications have yet been rejected, authorities are currently giving due consideration to applications where there are concerns regarding the landlord.

  

Local Authority
Approved Registrations
Properties in Approved Registrations1
Applications Awaiting Decision
Properties in Applications Awaiting Decision1


Aberdeen City
1,289
2,297
7,160
9,196


Aberdeenshire
618
831
3,202
5,245


Angus
539
1,047
1,575
3,296


Argyll and Bute
19
30
1,802
2,867


Clackmannanshire
0
0
481
704


Dumfries and Galloway
942
1,952
2,503
5,370


Dundee City
1
1
2,903
6,829


East Ayrshire
0
0
1,072
1,658


East Dunbartonshire
155
135
719
679


East Lothian
90
383
1,386
2,186


East Renfrewshire
0
0
653
822


Edinburgh, City of
0
0
20,943
27,118


Eilean Siar
28
38
297
317


Falkirk
931
1,328
1,317
1,919


Fife
0
0
5,207
7,412


Glasgow City
0
0
11,270
19,202


Highland
3
7
3,747
5,465


Inverclyde
0
0
974
1,898


Midlothian
0
0
775
1,017


Moray
0
0
1,271
1,914


North Ayrshire
0
0
1,336
2,007


North Lanarkshire
644
1,136
1,760
2,980


Orkney Islands
666
760
679
799


Perth and Kinross
856
1,243
2,658
5,999


Renfrewshire
16
234
1,648
2,677


Scottish Borders, The
109
171
2,270
4,841


Shetland Islands
103
97
240
328


South Ayrshire
624
1,053
1,503
2,230


South Lanarkshire
32
40
2,527
3,691


Stirling
127
296
1,417
2,351


West Dunbartonshire
15
22
559
733


West Lothian
1,063
1,493
1,788
2,338


Scotland
8,870
14,594
87,642
136,088



  Note: 1. Some properties may be included more than once where applications from joint owners are at different stages.

Consumer Protection

Trish Godman (West Renfrewshire) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what plans are in place to increase the maximum sum that a consumer can claim under the small claims procedure for faulty goods or services from the current £750.

Johann Lamont: It is for Members of Parliament to set the appropriate levels on consideration of the Orders laid in draft by ministers.

  All the issues in relation to this matter are under consideration and an announcement will be made as soon as is appropriate.As recognised in the recently published Report on Civil Justice in Scotland, there is a need to look closely at how relatively low value, straightforward cases should be handled and consideration of the issues requires us to balance competing issues. These include issues around access to a simplified court procedure but one in which legal aid is not available and freedom for pursuers to litigate in the court of their choice against the costs for defenders in being forced to defend cases in the Court of Session as opposed to the more local sheriff court.

Justice

Stewart Stevenson (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many people were convicted of (a) allowing disorderly conduct on licensed premises and (b) selling alcohol to people who are drunk in each of the last 10 years.

Cathy Jamieson: In the period 1996-97 to 2005-06 there was one conviction, in 2003-04, where the main offence involved was allowing disorderly conduct on licensed premises. Convictions for selling alcohol to people who are drunk can not be identified separately in the available statistics.

Planning

Dr Sylvia Jackson (Stirling) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether consideration has been given to requiring local NHS boards to be statutory consultees for planning applications concerning large housing developments to enable the impact of such developments on local health services or facilities to be taken into account.

Des McNulty: Some consideration has been given to whether health boards should be statutory consultees on planning applications. But it was felt that any decision on this should be considered following the fundamental changes to the planning system as a result of the Planning Etc (Scotland) Act 2006.

  As part of these changes we will be reviewing the list of statutory consultees on planning applications and will consider whether it would be appropriate to add NHS boards to that list and, if so, on what sorts of proposals they should be consulted.The appropriate time for NHS boards to be involved in considering the impact of large-scale development proposals on the delivery of health care services is during the preparation of development plans. These plans set the policy context within which individual planning applications are determined and decisions must be made in accordance with the development plan for the area unless material considerations indicate otherwise.

  At present there is no list of statutory consultees whom the planning authority must approach in preparing a development plan. However, there are requirements to: consult such authorities and other bodies as the planning authority think appropriate; ensure people who may be expected to want to comment on the plan are aware that they are entitled to do so; hold public consultation exercises on drafts of the plan.As part of the modernisation of planning we are considering what bodies might be made statutory consultees on development plans in future.

Planning

Dr Sylvia Jackson (Stirling) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether consideration has been given to requiring local authorities to seek the views of neighbouring local authorities when large housing developments are proposed which may impact on traffic in the neighbouring area moving to and from such developments.

Des McNulty: Article 15(1)(a) of the Town and Country Planning (General Development Procedure) (Scotland) Order 1992 already requires planning authorities to consult with "any adjoining planning authority, where it appears to the planning authority that the development is likely to affect land in the district of that authority".

  We will be replacing the 1992 order with a revised version as part of the modernisation of the planning system and will consider whether we need to expand on this requirement.When preparing the development plans for their area, planning authorities should be consulting widely on their proposals and it is important that neighbouring authorities engage in this process where their interests may be affected. The new planning act will introduce a specific requirement to send copies of proposed strategic development plans to neighbouring authorities.

Police

Pauline McNeill (Glasgow Kelvin) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to improve performance measurement and reporting within police forces.

Cathy Jamieson: I am pleased to announce the publication today of the Scottish Policing Performance Framework . The framework will be effective from 1 April 2007. It will for the first time establish a single national suite of performance indicators for every police force in Scotland.

  The framework has been developed through close partnership working by the Scottish Executive, Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland, individual constabularies, Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary for Scotland, Audit Scotland and the Scottish Police Authorities Conveners’ Forum. The framework provides a coherent national model for the measurement and reporting of performance information. It is intended to assist managers throughout the police service to provide more effective policing, to assist chief constables in discharging their operational responsibilities and police authorities in holding forces to account for efficiency and best value. It is based on four areas of policing, which encompass the wide range of policing activities within Scottish communities. The four areas are Service Response, Public Reassurance and Community Safety, Criminal Justice and Tackling Crime and Sound Governance and Efficiency. In each of these areas, high level objectives have been identified, which reflect national policing priorities. Performance measures have also been developed in each area, as well as several indicators which will provide contextual information on the environments within which police forces are operating. Individual forces will develop appropriate local indicators to complement the core national suite.

  The framework for 2007-08 is a first step towards more coherent national measurement and reporting of performance information across Scotland. It is intended to be sufficiently flexible to respond to developments in policing, in order that measures can be added or removed over time as necessary.The framework aims to improve accountability at local and national levels through the publication of consistent and transparent performance information, which will support Scottish ministers, police authorities and the general public in their understanding of policing performance. Quarterly reports will continue to be provided to police boards and a national report will be published annually. The first annual performance report is expected in autumn 2008.Copies of the framework are available in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib number 42199).

Prison Service

Stewart Stevenson (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the percentage change in the prison population has been in each year since 1997.

Cathy Jamieson: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:

  
The figures are given in the Scottish Executive Statistical Bulletins (Criminal Justice Series) - Prison Statistics Scotland, 2005-06 and are available on the Scottish Executive Statistics website at www.scotland.gov.uk/stats under "Crime and Justice", and are also available in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. number 40246).

Schools

Stewart Stevenson (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many parenting orders arising from truancy and exclusion from school have been issued this year, broken down by local authority area; how many have been breached; how many prosecutions have been mounted against those breaching such orders, and how many such prosecutions have been successful.

Robert Brown: No parenting orders have been granted since they came into force on 4 April 2005 by way of a three year national pilot. Parenting orders were always envisaged as a last resort where voluntary co-operation had failed.

  Parenting orders are concerned with the behaviour of the parent, not the child. An order will only be appropriate where the behaviour of the parent in relation to their child is seriously deficient and where a parent has been offered help and support on a voluntary basis and has refused to engage with that support.

  Statistics on truancy are available from the annual Scottish Executive National Statistics Publication on Attendance and Absence in Scottish Schools 2005-06: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Resource/Doc/159603/0043419.pdf.

  Statistics on exclusion are available from the annual Scottish Executive National Statistics Publication Exclusions from Schools, 2005-06: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Resource/Doc/164454/0044803.pdf.

  Recent measures to improve attendance management include consultation on draft guidance Engaged and Involved: attendance in Scottish schools (2006) which highlights the need to monitor and respond to patterns of absence including:

  
 the use of home link workers to liaise with families; and, 
  Executive supported funding and pilots of automated call systems which deter truancy and improve parental involvement in attendance. 


  Homelink workers can also be used to liaise with families regarding matters that have led to exclusion and the reintegration of pupils who have been excluded.

  The Scottish Schools (Parental Involvement) Act 2006, which aims to foster a partnership approach between schools and parents, will be fully operational by August 2007.